This is a ranking of the best colleges for economics using our RealRank analysis methodology.
Economics is a social science that focuses on understanding how real-world product and service markets work both on a macroeconomic and microeconomic scale. This includes finance, production, labor and theories of supply and demand. The top schools in the field also can be highly mathematical since these days the practical uses of economics involve complex modelling of economic spheres, like capital markets, monetary policy and money supply, and efficient operation of production, transport, pricing and wages.
The top universities for economics should imbue their students with skills having real world value in national wealth maximization for policy makers, and economic theory and practice of real world value in economic entities, from regulatory agencies, to productive corporations, to participants in finance and capital markets.
Top 100 Best Colleges for Economics
| Rank | College | City | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Chicago | Chicago | IL |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge | MA |
| 3 | Stanford University | Palo Alto | CA |
| 4 | Princeton University | Princeton | NJ |
| 5 | Harvard University | Cambridge | MA |
| 6 | Yale University | New Haven | CT |
| 7 | Columbia University | New York | NY |
| 8 | University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | CA |
| 9 | Northwestern University | Evanston | IL |
| 10 | University of Texas | Austin | TX |
| 11 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | PA |
| 12 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | CA |
| 13 | Duke University | Durham | NC |
| 14 | New York University | New York | NY |
| 15 | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor | MI |
| 16 | The Ohio State University | Columbus | OH |
| 17 | Arizona State University | Tempe | AZ |
| 18 | Cornell University | Ithaca | NY |
| 19 | University of Maryland | College Park | MD |
| 20 | Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh | PA |
| 21 | Penn State | University Park | PA |
| 22 | University of Minnesota | Twin Cities | MN |
| 23 | University of California - San Diego | San Diego | CA |
| 24 | Texas A&M University | College Station | TX |
| 25 | Purdue University | West Lafayette | IN |
| 26 | Michigan State University | East Lansing | MI |
| 27 | University Of Wisconsin | Madison | WI |
| 28 | Brown University | Providence | RI |
| 29 | University of Illinois | Champaign | IL |
| 30 | California Institute of Technology | Pasadena | CA |
| 31 | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore | MD |
| 32 | Indiana University | Bloomington | IN |
| 33 | University of Arizona | Tuscon | AZ |
| 34 | University of Virginia | Charlottesville | VA |
| 35 | University of California - Davis | Davis | CA |
| 36 | University of Florida | Gainesville | FL |
| 37 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles | CA |
| 38 | Boston University | Boston | MA |
| 39 | University of Washington | Seattle | WA |
| 40 | University of North Carolina | Chapel Hill | NC |
| 41 | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta | GA |
| 42 | North Carolina State University | Raleigh | NC |
| 43 | Washington University | St. Louis | MO |
| 44 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville | TN |
| 45 | University of Rochester | Rochester | NY |
| 46 | Iowa State University | Ames | IA |
| 47 | University of Georgia | Athens | GA |
| 48 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill | MA |
| 49 | University of Notre Dame | South Bend | IN |
| 50 | University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | PA |
| 51 | Florida State University | Tallahassee | FL |
| 52 | Georgetown University | Washington | DC |
| 53 | Dartmouth College | Hanover | NH |
| 54 | University of Colorado | Boulder | CO |
| 55 | Rice University | Houston | TX |
| 56 | Southern Methodist University | Dallas | TX |
| 57 | University of Kentucky | Lexington | KY |
| 58 | Virginia Polytechnic University (Virginia Tech) | Blacksburg | VA |
| 59 | University of Iowa | Iowa City | IA |
| 59 | University of Tennessee | Knoxville | TN |
| 61-75 | University of Utah | Salt Lake City | UT |
| 61-75 | University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | CA |
| 61-75 | Emory University | Atlanta | GA |
| 61-75 | University of Oregon | Eugene | OR |
| 61-75 | Georgia State University | Atlanta | GA |
| 61-75 | Clemson University | Clemson | SC |
| 61-75 | Hillsdale College | Hillsdale | MI |
| 61-75 | Rutgers University | Piscataway | NJ |
| 61-75 | University of Arkansas | Fayetteville | AR |
| 61-75 | University of South Carolina | Columbia | SC |
| 61-75 | University of Kansas | Lawrence | KS |
| 61-75 | University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa | AL |
| 61-75 | Colorado State University | Ft. Collins | CO |
| 61-75 | University of Nevada - Las Vegas (UNLV) | Las Vegas | NV |
| 61-75 | University of Wyoming | Laramie | WY |
| 76-100 | George Mason University | Fairfax | VA |
| 76-100 | University of South Florida | Tampa | FL |
| 76-100 | University of California - Irvine | Irvine | CA |
| 76-100 | University of Miami | Coral Gables | FL |
| 76-100 | Oregon State University | Corvallis | OR |
| 76-100 | University of Illinois - Chicago | Chicago | IL |
| 76-100 | Syracuse University | Syracuse | NY |
| 76-100 | George Washington University | Washington | DC |
| 76-100 | Brigham Young University | Salt Lake City | UT |
| 76-100 | Tulane University | New Orleans | LA |
| 76-100 | University of Oklahoma | Norman | OK |
| 76-100 | University of Nebraska | Lincoln | NB |
| 76-100 | Mississippi State University | Starkville | MS |
| 76-100 | University of Texas at Dallas | Dallas | TX |
| 76-100 | Auburn University | Auburn | AL |
| 76-100 | College of William and Mary | Williamsburg | VA |
| 76-100 | Tufts University | Medford | MA |
| 76-100 | Brandeis University | Waltham | MA |
| 76-100 | University of Massachusetts | Amherst | MA |
| 76-100 | University of Missouri - Columbia | Columbia | MO |
| 76-100 | University of Mississippi | Oxford | MS |
| 76-100 | University of Nevada - Reno | Reno | NV |
| 76-100 | University of Connecticut | Storrs | CT |
| 76-100 | Wellesley College | Wellesley | MA |
| 76-100 | Stony Brook University - SUNY | Stony Brook | NY |
| 76-100 | Drexel University | Philadelphia | PA |
| 76-100 | University of Delaware | Newark | DE |
| 76-100 | Washington State University | Pullman | WA |
| 76-100 | University of Cincinnati | Cincinnati | OH |
| 76-100 | University of Houston | Houston | TX |
| 76-100 | State University of New York at Binghamton | Binghamton | NY |
| 76-100 | Florida International University | Miami | FL |
| 76-100 | Baruch College, City University of New York | New York | NY |
| 76-100 | American University | Washington | DC |
| 76-100 | Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem | NC |
| 76-100 | University of California - Riverside | Riverside | CA |
| 76-100 | University of California - Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz | CA |
| 76-100 | University of Hawaii - Manoa | Honolulu | HI |
| 76-100 | Bowling Green State University | Bowling Green | OH |
More information on our RealRankTM analytics used in creating this ranking can be found on the About page.
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What is an Economics Major?
An economics major as an undergraduate is essentially an introduction to the field. Graduate School, such as law, business or advanced Economics is pursued by many students who major in economics as an undergraduate, to earn an advanced degree. Among the subjects covered in a typical Economics major are:
- Core Economics, including:
- Macroeconomics
- Microeconomics
- Students seeking advanced knowledge typically will take advanced mathematics classes, such as Calculus and Statistics.
- Economic specialization fields:
- Monetary Theory
- International Economics
- Labor Economics
- Health Economics
- Urban Economics
- Economic Development and Demography
- Industrial Organization
Post-Graduate Paths for Economics Majors
Many students graduating with a degree in economics go on to graduate school, but there are some opportunities for recent undergraduates as well.
- Graduate Schools:
- Law School – pursuing JD degrees.
- Business School – pursuing MBA degrees.
- Economics Graduate School – pursuing Masters or Doctorate degrees in Economics.
- Direct Employment:
- Management training programs at large companies.
- Banks
- Consulting firms
- Training programs at Accounting firms.
